A Johnson County District Court judge sentenced Adam Christopher Davis to life sentences on two counts of premeditated first-degree murder after a mother and her child were found shot to death in their home.

A release from the Johnson County District Attorney's office said Davis pleaded guilty to the charges on Feb. 22. He was the boyfriend of the victim, 24-year-old Amber Searles, as well as the father of their newborn.

Neighbors were struggling with how to tell their children why the deaths happened but said they suspect Davis was struggling with mental illness.

Back in September 2011, neighbors watched as police worked into the night for at least two nights in a row, trying to make sense of the deaths of Searles and her 4-month-old daughter, Kyra, followed by the arrest of the woman's longtime live-in boyfriend.

"He eventually did come out, stepped over to the garage, was kneeling down, kept saying, 'Protect me. I'm innocent,'" said neighbor Mason Working.

Another neighbor and a friend to the couple thinks back to a conversation Searles had with her Wednesday, expressing concern about her boyfriend's behavior.

"He wasn't acting right. He was acting funny and that he needed some help mentally," the neighbor said.

Searles told her he shot through the door the day before and a relative of his responded by removing all guns from the home.

"You could slowly tell he was going downhill just by the things he would say, like he is ready for the Lord to take him and he has got his angels," said Working.

Working said his biggest concern now is for the couple's kindergartner.

"He doesn't have his mom anymore. His newborn sister, she's gone, and all he knows is he can't see his dad," said Working.

One neighbor told us the commotion unfolded soon after he got home in the evening and he saw police coaxing the adult victim's longtime boyfriend out of the house.

The sentences are to run consecutive to one another and will be served in the Kansas Department of Corrections. The Johnson County District Attorney's office said Davis will have to serve a total of 50 years before being eligible for parole.

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